Ever After
by Urponator
Summary: A collection of fluffy, domestic AU one-shots brought here just for the reason of having Komaeda and Hinata be happy and live peacefully. There won't be any real plot behind these and everything will be written just to be sweet and sometimes almost excessively so Oh, and they have a dog!
1. Chapter 1

_In the beginning I guess I have to clarify few facts about this AU:_

 _\- This is non-despair AU as I said in the tags, though Komaeda's past remains mostly the same._

 _\- Komaeda's luck is still present somewhat but it has mellowed out with time._

 _\- They have a dog, her name is Hope (in English, while they still speak Japanese...) and she's a golden retriever. There'll be more told about her in the later one-shots~_

 _\- Update schedule will be mostly free form, unless mentioned otherwise._

 _\- They live in a house, not in an apartment._

 _\- Please feel free to ask if you have any questions, I'll do my best to explain!_

 _\- Oh and I guess I need to mention that any similarities to my other AU fic Long Road to North are completely by chance or just for fun, and these two are not really related._

 _Now for the actual beginning one-shot, this is the first one I wrote so I'll publish it first, but after this one there'll be quite a few Christmas specials coming out until it's over. I'm planning about 4-5 for Christmas but I'll still have to see. This first one is in the middle of summer though and while it might be a bit out of place now I hope you'll have fun with it anyways. Just pretend it's summer outside while you read it~_

* * *

"Hinata-kun, it's so hot…"

"That's just how it is. Bear with it," Hinata answered shortly and sighed. Not that he didn't feel like complaining too; according to the weathercast, today was the hottest day of the summer so far. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and closed his eyes.

"But it's unbearable…," Komaeda whined and Hinata opened his eyes to look at him.

"If it's unbearable then don't rest your head on my lap. It's not helping you at all," he answered and Komaeda rolled to lay on his side from his back to look at him with a sheepish smile on his lips.

"Sorry, is it bothersome to you?" he asked. Hinata looked into his eyes for a moment before lifting his gaze to their backyard. The grass had grown way too long tall since neither of them had wanted to mow it in this weather.

"Well… of course it is," Hinata answered absentmindedly as he looked at the small tree standing in the yard and the lonely cicada sitting on it, under the shade from the leaves. It wasn't much different from the two of them, sitting on the porch and under the protection of the cote, and Hinata briefly wondered if it was feeling hot in this sweltering weather as well. At least it wasn't dripping with sweat, like he was.

He just got to thinking whether his sweat would drop on Komaeda if he wasn't careful, when he felt the weight shift on his lap as Komaeda tried to get up. Gently Hinata just pushed him back.

"I didn't say I mind it. You're tired, right?" Hinata said as he began to stroke Komaeda's hair, swiping the soft strands of thick hair from his face. The other closed his eyes, his expression resembling what most would presume as uncomfortable, but Hinata knew better. Komaeda would always look uncomfortable when receiving affection, but in reality it was just him trying to deal with the conflicted emotions of wanting the affection yet feeling like he didn't deserve any.

It made Hinata a bit angry whenever he saw it, but he always responded by giving him even more attention and care. It was maybe half out of spite, but mostly he just did it in hopes that Komaeda would someday get used to it, and finally start accepting it.

When he had swiped all the hair from Komaeda's face, he just kept stroking his cheek quietly as he kept thinking. For a while they just stayed like that in silence.

"… It's still hot…," Komaeda mumbled eventually and Hinata sighed again before smiled and grabbed a magazine with his free hand and began to fan Komaeda. With his other hand he still kept stroking Komaeda's cheek.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked and Komaeda gave him a tiny nod, looking slightly embarrassed. "That's good. Try to take that nap of yours now, okay? Let's go get ice cream when you wake up," he added. Komaeda nodded again before closing his eyes. He looked so peaceful that Hinata had to hold back the urge to lean down and kiss him. It was rare that Komaeda let him spoil him, so he didn't want to interrupt the moment. He glanced at the tree again to see that the lonely cicada had gained company, the other one resting a little higher on the tree. They still didn't seem to be sweating from the heat, but they were both resting safely in the shadows.

"Sorry for the bother, Hinata-kun…," Komaeda said softly and Hinata frowned slightly as he looked down at him.

"I'd prefer a 'thank you' instead," he said in a scolding tone, and a small smile found its way to Komaeda's lips.

"Thank you, Hajime. Let's buy lots of ice cream later," Komaeda said as he huddled a little bit closer to Hinata, completely oblivious to the small blush on Hinata's face. Komaeda still rarely called him by his first name, so it often took him by surprise. It made him want to kiss Komaeda even more, and he lifted his eyes back to the yard.

It would be nice to take a nap too…

* * *

 _Thank you for reading! I'll post the next one on either the 14th or 15th day of December and it'll be the first Christmas special as I mentioned before._ _Oh, and while I still remember! If you have anything you'd like to see, I do take request ideas for the future chapters, after the Christmas specials are over. I have a list already but it can never be too long~_


	2. Christmas Special No1

"I'm back," Hinata called when he opened the door. He heard Hope barking as she ran to greet him, and he crouched down in preparation to pet her. Komaeda walked to the hallway as well with a smile on his lips.

"Uh, welcome back! How was your day at work?" Komaeda asked and Hinata couldn't help but notice that the other seemed slightly antsy, like he was nervous about something. He decided to ignore it for now, since he felt like he'd find out the reason eventually. Hope was trying to push him down as well so his thoughts were a bit occupied… He got up to take off his shoes and jacket, and Hope backed away seeming slightly disappointed.

"It's starting to get busier since Christmas is almost here… I'll get to cooking dinner in a moment, I just need to rest for a bit first," he explained as he walked to Komaeda. The other just nodded as they walked to the living room. Hinata quickly found his way under the kotatsu, and he let out a sigh of relief in response to the warmth. Komaeda didn't join him at first, and he glanced at the other with an asking look. He didn't manage to get a response before Hope already came to steal all his attention.

Eventually Komaeda joined him so he decided to not question it.

"How come you're so hungry for attention?" Hinata asked from Hope, who just whined in response. Komaeda seemed to jump slightly at his question and Hinata looked at him again.

"I forgot to take her out on a walk…," Komaeda said dejectedly and Hinata sighed. "I'll go with her when you start cooking."

"Well, that would explain…," he said as he rubbed the back of Hope's ears and she closed her eyes in response. It wasn't like Komaeda to forget about the walk, so this probably meant something was up. Asking straight out from him usually wasn't very productive though, so he'd probably have to just observe the other and try to find out other way.

His rubbing was starting to turn slow due to being in his thoughts, and with a dissatisfied whine Hope wandered to the other side of the kotatsu to get attention from Komaeda instead. Hinata rested his chin on the table as he looked at Komaeda. The other was clearly getting restless from being stared at and tried to cover it up by playing with Hope enthusiastically. Hinata smiled at the two of them gently; this was certainly recharging his energy even more than the warmth from the kotatsu.

He eventually got up; he wasn't going to understand anything from just looking at Komaeda play with the dog, so he might as well make the food first. In response Komaeda also quickly got up and Hope barked excitedly as she probably realized it was finally time for a walk.

"I presume you remembered to go shopping at least?" Hinata joked as he walked to the hallway to get to the kitchen.

"Of course I did, I wouldn't forget… Though I guess I did forget the walk," Komaeda smiled as he answered, following him to the kitchen door. Hinata stopped at the door to look back at him. Komaeda seemed to flinch as a reaction and seemed even more restless than earlier now. He seemed to even squirm under the stares from Hinata and Hope like he was trying to say something, but until eventually Hinata broke the silence.

"Are you going?"

"Y-yeah, I am…," Komaeda said with a disappointed tone and turned to look at Hope who gave an excited bark.

"I'll probably be done with the food when you're back, alright?" Hinata said as Komaeda put on his shoes, and after receiving a nod as an answer, he went into the kitchen. As he took the ingredients out of the fridge he could hear the other opening the door and with a click he was alone. He still didn't really have any idea what was up with Komaeda but at least it didn't seem like it was anything bad, which was a huge plus.

He sighed as he began to cut the vegetables. It had been a while since they had moved in together and even longer that they had been dating, but there was still many things that he found hard to understand with Komaeda. He liked to think that he knew the other better than anyone else, but sometimes even he'd be stumped on what Komaeda wanted to tell him.

Maybe they just weren't meant to be the type of couple to understand each other without thinking.

Not that it was a bad thing, really. It wasn't like most couples came even close to that kind of understanding. And Hinata knew plenty; he knew that Komaeda always insisted on being the one to take Hope out because he felt bad for not being able to cook for him, and making Hinata do it right after work. He knew that Komaeda also cleaned the house every time when he was working, so that Hinata wouldn't have to come home into a mess.

Not that they even made that much mess usually. Hinata also didn't really mind cooking for them, he didn't mind the fact that Komaeda worked from home and he wouldn't mind coming home into a small mess. But if that was what made Komaeda satisfied, then he was happy with it.

Hinata shook his head as he felt embarrassed for his thoughts. He was getting cheesy, but maybe it was the Christmas approaching that was making him sappier than normally. He turned on the stove as he tried to refocus his thoughts. It was a surprise that Hope hadn't peed inside though; even though she was house-trained, she still had accidents occasionally if she didn't get taken out regularly enough.

Seriously, what could it be that had distracted Komaeda so much…? Hinata stared at the food frying on the pan as he tried to think. The house was cleaned up as usual and nothing seemed to be wrong anywhere, so he was pretty sure nothing had happened to either Komaeda or Hope.

The food was pretty soon done as he rattled his thoughts, and he turned off the stove. As he turned to glance at the clock above the door he finally noticed what had been bothering Komaeda and he smiled. As he had thought, it wasn't anything bad.

The mistletoe looked a bit lonely being the only festive thing in the house, and Hinata made a mental note to go buy some more Christmas decorations with Komaeda. He chuckled as he walked to the door and reached to touch the leaves with his fingertips. Komaeda had taken the effort to put it there, even forgetting to take Hope out because of it, and then he hadn't had enough courage to go through with his plan.

"What a dork…," Hinata said quietly as he leaned against the doorframe. The food was ready already so he presumed he could just wait for the two others to return here. He closed his eyes and the smile felt like it was permanently stuck on his face.

It didn't take long for the door to click open and a bark greeted him as Hinata opened his eyes.

"We're back," Komaeda said as he grabbed a towel from the coat rack to dry off Hope's paws.

"Welcome back," Hinata answered softly as he looked at Komaeda carefully wipe the snow off the dog, before starting to take off his jacket and shoes. When she was freed, Hope excitedly ran to Hinata and he crouched down to pet her. She licked his face and he just laughed as he realized the mistletoe was still above them. What a coincidence. Komaeda was looking at them from the hallway before walking over to them.

"Is the food ready?" Komaeda asked as Hinata stood up wiping his face, Hope walking away from them to her bowl in the kitchen. Hinata almost chuckled when he noticed Komaeda was feeling antsy again: this was a whole lot more fun when he knew what was up.

"Yup, just waiting for someone to eat it. There's snow in your hair again…," he said as he began to wipe the snow away, dropping it on the floor where it quickly began to melt. Komaeda just closed his eyes in response, and Hinata used the unaware moment to kiss Komaeda. The other's whole face was cold from being outside, and Hinata closed his eyes while he brought his other hand to Komaeda's hair as well and messed it up deliberately as a grin found its way to his lips.

When he leaned back and opened his eyes again, Komaeda was staring at him in shock, his cheeks even redder now than from being outside, and Hinata nodded towards the mistletoe above them.

"You're supposed to kiss under these, right?" he said teasingly, and Komaeda gave him back an embarrassed smile as he nodded. A bark called for them from behind, and Hinata rubbed Komaeda's shoulder as he nodded towards the kitchen. "Let's eat now, alright?"

* * *

 _Thank you so much for reading, I hope you liked it! This has been the first Christmas special, I'll have the next one ready in two-three days as well~_


	3. Christmas Special No2

Komaeda sighed as he laid down on the floor, under the kotatsu. Hinata had said he'd come a bit late home today, and had left food in the fridge for Komaeda to eat. He glanced at the empty bowl on the table; he should probably get up and wash it before the other came back home. But it was warm right here and he didn't feel like getting up, so he just decided to stay here. Hope was sleeping by him, snoring quietly, and he refrained from petting her. It was good to rest for a moment when your stomach was full.

Hinata was already an hour late than normally. This wasn't really anything out of normal, it was Christmas time so Hinata got held back often at work. But for Komaeda it just meant more hours alone at home.

Well, of course he had Hope. But it wasn't quite the same as human company. Hinata often told him to call someone over, like their high school friends. But Komaeda was always really hesitant to do so, feeling like it'd just be a bother. He rolled to his side to look at Hope as he gently rubbed the behind of her ears. She let out a tiny, muffled bark reflexively, opening her eyes for a second to look at him before going back to sleep.

He should visit the library someday again. He bought a lot of books already but there was just certain kind of calmness reading at the library. Hope was starting to get old enough as well to spend a couple hours alone at home without problems.

After petting Hope for a moment, Komaeda stood up. He should do the dishes now, since Hinata would most likely come back soon. Hope got up with him, staring at him as he took the bowl and following him to the kitchen like she was checking out what he was going to do. He just smiled at her as he began to wash the bowl, trying to resist her charm as she kept poking his legs for attention.

"Do you want a treat?" he asked as he put the bowl up in the cupboard, and Hope barked. Komaeda glanced out of the window to make sure Hinata wasn't there; they had made a rule that they wouldn't give treats to Hope without a good reason. But he wanted to give her something for being good company to him the whole day so he took the bag of treats from the cupboard and took a stick out of it. Hope began to jump around in excitement and Komaeda smiled at her.

"Okay, can you sit for me?" he asked as he crouched, and she quickly did as told, her tail wagging like crazy as she stared at the treat. "Paw?" Komaeda extended his hand for her, and Hope quickly lifted her paw on it. Komaeda smile again and gave the treat to her while complimenting her, and straightened his back to look at the window again. He felt his heart jump when he noticed Hinata was just opening the gate to their yard.

"Ooh, Hope, guess who's home!" he said playfully, and the dog tensed up as she tilted her head. Komaeda repeated his words couple of times just to get her hyped up, and when the door clicked she sprinted to the door.

"Woah!" Hinata's voice could be heard from the hallway almost right away, and Komaeda walked over to see the other leaning against the door to not be knocked down by Hope jumping on him. There were several bags on the floor, and Komaeda walked closer trying to see what was in them.

"Welcome back," he said and Hinata looked at him with a grin.

"Yeah, I'm back. Sorry for taking so long, the lines in the stores were a lot longer than I expected," he answered as he nodded towards the bags. Komaeda took that as permission to go snooping and he was met with lots of Christmas decorations. "Your mistletoe looks a bit lonely by itself, so I thought we could decorate the house and the tree in the backyard," Hinata continued as he hung his jacket on the coatrack, Hope running around in his legs.

Komaeda looked at all the bags: the other had certainly bought a lot. He took a box of glittery ornaments out to examine it, and Hinata walked over to him.

"I didn't really know what exactly to get so I just took everything I saw that looked nice, and it eventually developed into this huge bunch…," he explained as he took the bags from the floor, starting to carry them to the living room.

"You should have called me, I could have helped you carry them," Komaeda said as he followed the other, and Hinata just chuckled.

"I can carry them myself too, you know. It wasn't really that heavy," he said as he began to empty the bags on the kotatsu table. Komaeda almost answered him right away, to say that he just had been lonely, but he quickly held his words back. He didn't really have the courage to say things like that… Hope kept sniffing the stuff on the table, and instead of saying anything to Hinata he called her off to make sure she wouldn't take any of them.

There wasn't really a lot of decorations for inside of the house, and they managed to put them up pretty quickly, before they came back to the boxes of ornaments and lights for the tree. Komaeda went to take their jackets and shoes from the hallway while Hinata let Hope out to the backyard. She was excitedly playing in the snow by herself by the time the two of them walked out, and luckily engrossed in it enough to not notice all the things they carried outside. Just to be safe though, they decided to start with the lights.

"I can't believe I left work early and still took so long to get these," Hinata said as he unboxed some of the ornaments. Komaeda stopped putting up the lights for a moment to look at the other. Hinata was completely focused on trying to get the more difficult boxes open, and Komaeda smiled softly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise, I guess," Hinata said as he took the last box yet to be opened. Komaeda looked at all the colorful ornaments, and he felt a small tinge of nostalgia somewhere on the back of his mind, like a memory he had long forgotten about was raising its head.

"It's been a long while since I last put up Christmas decorations…," he said as he resumed putting up the lights. He saw Hinata put down the box in his hand to look at him, but he didn't look back this time. It was easier to talk about these if he didn't look at Hinata…

"We didn't put up any last year but I think that's not what you mean," Hinata said as he stood up. Komaeda nodded as Hinata joined him on putting up things on the tree. "You… you haven't put up any since your parents died?"

"I never felt like decorating by myself, so eventually I kind of stopped even thinking about them," Komaeda explained as he finished putting up the lights and went to take a box of ornaments to himself to put up. The tree was already starting to look a lot more festive and he smiled a bit at the sight. It was certainly a beautiful sight. "I guess I should have put some effort into it even if I was alone." Hinata turned to look at him from the tree with a smile on his lips.

"You were the one who put up the mistletoe though," he said cheekily and Komaeda pursed his lips. Hinata walked over to him and pushed his shoulder gently. "But you know? From now on we can put up decorations every year. We have more than enough to last us a lifetime… And even if we don't, we can always just buy more," Hinata continued softly. Komaeda looked at the other with a surprised look: he had never thought the other was planning on being with him for the rest of their lives.

And even though he still kind of didn't believe that, it made his heart swell with happiness just to know that Hinata would say that to him. He smiled hesitantly as Hinata ruffled his hair; he'd love to do nothing more than to be with Hinata forever.

"Yeah, that's true," he answered. He kind of wanted to hug the other, but they were both holding boxes and it'd be a bit difficult to do. Komaeda was already about to return to decorating the tree, when Hinata leaned against him, burying his head on Komaeda's shoulder and Komaeda responded by resting his head against the other. They managed to stay there for only few seconds, before a loud barked made both of them jump in surprise as Hope ran over to them.

"Oh man, you're covered in snow aren't you…," Hinata said as he turned to look at her. He put down his box to go wipe some of the snow off her, and Komaeda looked at them for a moment before returning to the tree.

He had never before really cared about Christmas, but being with Hinata and now Hope as well made it feel a lot warmer.

* * *

 _Thank you so much for reading! The next one will be up in couple days as well, I hope to see you there~_


	4. Christmas Special No3

"Did you get them on?" Hinata asked from Komaeda, who just frowned as he nodded. Hinata leaned over the counter to look at him, as Komaeda hesitated standing up from the chair. He had never worn ice skates before and he had a feeling he wasn't going to be good at this. When he didn't get up apparently fast enough, Hinata skated over to leave the ring and walked over to him.

"Here, I'll help you up," he said as he offered his hand. Komaeda took it hesitantly, and as the other pulled him up he immediately felt regret over the decision as he almost wobbled over. Hinata was there to keep him up and to support him on the walk over to the ring.

As he stepped on the ice, Komaeda kind of wished he hadn't agreed on coming here. Hinata had gotten free tickets from his work and since he hated to leave free things unused, he had coaxed Komaeda into coming with him. There had been just no way for him to refuse when he had seen how determined Hinata was to have him as company, even though Komaeda had offered that he should take someone else with him since he didn't know how to.

"I'll hold your hands, alright? You just get used to the feeling," Hinata said as he took Komaeda's hands in a firm grasp, standing up in front of him. Like it was easy thing to do, Hinata began to slowly skate backwards while pulling Komaeda along. He was feeling ridiculous being pulled like that, and he tried to stand as straight as he could despite his wobbling legs. He wanted to have at least some dignity.

"I'm not sure if I can do this," Komaeda said after a while, as he tried his best not to make any sudden movements to prevent falling down. "I'm going to just fall down as soon as you let go." Hinata squeezed his hands encouragingly.

"Come on, you can do it if you try. I know it must feel weird right now but it'll get better," he said as he slowed down their pace a little bit. Komaeda furrowed his brow as he stared at his legs to figure out what he was supposed to do with them. In comparison to Hinata's smooth skating, his constantly buckling knees felt ridiculous.

"I don't know, my luck has been really good lately so I wouldn't be surprised if it hit back now…," Komaeda complained as he pursed his lips. He had never been anyhow sporty either, so he didn't have anywhere to base this.

"It doesn't stop you from trying, does it? You shouldn't look at your feet too much, you won't be able to—" Hinata's words got cut off when Komaeda stumbled and almost fell down. Hinata managed to hold him up however, but Komaeda's mood had gone even sourer.

"You know that I don't have a lot of strength in my legs, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

"Hey, just look at me okay—"

"I'm sure you'd rather go skate properly as well, instead of hanging back with me…," Komaeda said as he glared at his feet. He should have refused; Hinata could've come here with someone who knew how to ice skate and had much more fun than he was most likely having now.

"That's not true, just look at me," Hinata said impatiently and Komaeda held his hold tighten around his hands.

"You're getting angry," Komaeda said as he recognized the signs, and the other held his hands even tighter. It was starting to feel uncomfortable, and Komaeda glanced at Hinata from his feet for a moment.

"You're being difficult," Hinata said tightly as he frowned.

"I know, I'm really bad at this," Komaeda said instantly, lowering his eyes back to his feet. "You should have asked someone else to come with you. I'm sure Naegi-kun or Souda-kun would have joined you, or maybe even Nanami-san if you had managed to convince her."

"Look, that's not it. Can we just focus on the skating now?" Hinata said curtly, and Komaeda realized he shouldn't speak anymore, but the words kept spilling from his mouth like a waterfall.

"The tickets are going to waste like this. I'm sure it's not too late to call someone else over, I can just go home and look after Hope—"

" _I said that's not it,_ " Hinata said harshly as he stopped skating completely. Komaeda turned to look at him to see Hinata glaring at their hands. "Are you an idiot? I didn't want to come here with anyone else." After saying his words, Hinata sighed and let go of Komaeda's hands before skating off. Komaeda quickly grabbed a hold of the side of the ring before he fell down. The other had his back turned on him, and he didn't seem to mind the gazes he was gaining from some of the people.

Komaeda dropped his head. He had messed up again by being unnecessarily negative. Now that he was leaning against the rail, he felt a lot better about standing on his skates already from when he had started: at some point he had actually started to get used to it while he had been running his mouth.

He glanced at Hinata, who was deliberately skating on the other end of the ring, and he straightened his back as he hesitantly tried to slide on the ice. It was a lot harder to move than he had anticipated, but he bit his teeth together as he just continued trying. That felt like the best action to do now: he wasn't sure if it was enough to calm Hinata down but at least he was trying to compensate for his lack of trying earlier.

It didn't take too long for him to feel stable enough to let go of the rail, though his progression onwards was really slow. Occasionally he almost fumbled, but he stuck close to the side to be able to catch on it quickly, as he made his way towards the other end of the ring. Hinata had stopped skating – apparently having noticed him coming – and was looking at him with his arms crossed.

He wasn't entirely sure, but Komaeda got the feeling that the other wasn't that angry anymore.

"See, it's not that hard is it?" Hinata said when Komaeda got close enough to hear.

"I'm sorry, I was being negative again and ruining your fun—" Komaeda started to apologize, but Hinata interrupted him as he dug out his phone from his pocket.

"Smile!" he said as he pointed the phone towards him. When Komaeda just stared at him in wonder, he repeated his word and Komaeda tried to pull off a smile as well as he could, and the phone clicked as his photo got taken.

"Is there a reason you needed my picture…?" Komaeda asked as he skated the rest of the distance to Hinata.

"The one who actually gave me the tickets was my mother. I was talking with her on the phone the other day, and when I told her you're mostly home every day she gave me the tickets. She apparently got them from her friend as a gift but my father didn't want to go with her, so she told me to take you out and send her pictures," Hinata said as he showed the picture to Komaeda.

Komaeda looked at the picture and the wonky smile on his lips. He hadn't talked a lot with Hinata's parents even after they moved together, but whenever he had seen them they had been very kind and accepting towards him. And while it made him always feel guilty, it always made his heart squeeze and he just found himself stuck in a loop of conflicting emotions. He furrowed his brow as he thought of what to say, and Hinata poked him in the forehead.

"So I have to properly teach you how to skate, so that she'll get the absolute best pictures of you. So how about you stop being so negative and I stop being so cranky and we have fun, alright?" Hinata said with a smile and Komaeda nodded as he returned the smile hesitantly. He didn't see any value to pictures of him, good or bad, but if that's what Hinata's parents wanted then the least he could do was agree.

So when Hinata offered his hands again, Komaeda took them and let the other pull him along willingly.

* * *

 _Thank you so much for reading! The Christmas specials will still continue and the next one will be up in few days again~!_


	5. Christmas Special No4

Hinata finished up packaging the last gift and let out a relieved sigh as he glanced at the mountain of gifts. It always took it's time, but the result was always satisfying after taking his time to choose everyone a fitting gift and wrapping them himself. New friends always got surprised by his dedication but he loved giving gifts to people, and he gladly took any chance he could to give them some. So the whole December he spent planning what he was going to give everyone and collecting them one by one.

He glanced at the clock; it had been three hours already and it was starting to get late in the evening. He stood up from the floor as he stretched his whole body. He had locked Komaeda and Hope out of the bedroom to focus on the wrapping and to not let Komaeda see his present.

They would probably be in the living room; that's where Komaeda usually seemed to spend his time when he wasn't cleaning or doing something else, always under the kotatsu to get away from the cold. And Hope seemed to follow Komaeda most of the time; Hinata sometimes felt that she liked Komaeda a bit more out of the two of them, but that was probably since she spent most of her time with him.

He opened the bedroom door and closed it behind him as he walked to the hallway. He could hear Komaeda talking behind the corner, and he walked to see what was going on. The other was putting his jacket on, holding Hope in a leash.

"Are you taking her out?" Hinata asked and Komaeda yelped in surprise, having not seen him coming.

"H-Hinata-kun. Yeah, Hope seemed a bit restless so I thought we'd go a bit earlier this evening," Komaeda said and the dog let out a small bark in response to her name, her tail wagging happily at the sight of Hinata. He smiled in response as he petted her head. "You got them all wrapped now?"

"Yeah, sorry that it took so long," Hinata responded as he turned to look at Komaeda. "Do you mind if I join you two? I want to get some fresh air."

"No, of course I don't," Komaeda answered as expected, and Hinata took his jacket from the coat rack. Hope seemed to be growing impatient waiting, so he tried to hurry up. He grabbed his keys before they opened the door and stepped to outside, the chilly air greeting them instantly. Hinata yawned as he stretched his hands up, taking in the fresh air while Komaeda closed the door behind them. They started to walk in silence, Hope walking ahead of them and yanking them along by the leash the whole time.

"Have you ever ran with her?" Hinata asked off the top of his head, and the look he got from Komaeda told him the answer instantly. "Maybe I should take her running someday… when I have time from work again," he added as he sighed. The whole Christmas season was just horrible at work.

"Your holiday will start next Monday right? There hasn't been any changes to that plan?" Komaeda asked and Hinata nodded. He had specifically arranged to get a week vacation over the Christmas to have time for giving out the gifts and meeting his family.

"But it's not fun to jog during the winter…," Hinata complained as he looked up to the sky to look at the moon. "Maybe Asahina-san would want to take her running someday. She mentioned at lunch the other day that she'd want to see Hope again."

Komaeda glanced at him and nodded, and Hinata looked back at him tilting his head.

"Uh, we could ask her to take Hope running and go give your presents out to everyone," Komaeda suggested as he turned to look back at the road. "It'd be a bit easier to give out the presents that way than arranging a specific meeting with everyone like you did last year…," he added and Hinata pondered the suggestion. Last year his vacation had been a lot longer so it had been easier to arrange a meeting with most of the people, but Komaeda was right. This year it wasn't really feasible to achieve…

"I guess you're right. I'll try to catch her tomorrow and ask if she'd be up for it," Hinata said. Komaeda seemed pleased at his answer, and Hinata raised his eyebrows. The other seemed abnormally invested into his presents. Komaeda seemed to notice he was being stared at, and he gave a nervous smile to him.

"You really put a lot of thought into the presents this year as well, I'm sure everyone will like them again," Komaeda said as he stared at Hope who still kept pulling the leash slightly, still having given up on trying to make them move a bit faster.

"There were a few ones I'd have wanted something different instead, but they were sold out so I had to find something else…," Hinata said. He could somehow see Komaeda's fingers playing with the leash on the other side from Hinata. "I'm looking forward to seeing people's reactions, though even more than that I'm looking forward to just staying at home under the kotatsu with you and Hope." Slyly he slid his hand on Komaeda's free one, giving it a soft squeeze. Komaeda looked a bit surprised at first, before squeezing back and burying half his face into his scarf. Hinata just looked at him with a smile as he bumped their shoulders together.

"I'm looking forward to that too…"

* * *

 _It's almost Christmas! Woo! There'll be one or two Christmas specials still, kind of depending if I manage to write them both. So there'll either be one update on the Christmas Day OR one on the Eve and one on the Day. We'll see! Hope you liked today's chapter, and I thank you for reading!_


	6. Christmas Special No5 (Last)

Komaeda closed the door behind him and Hope, putting the mail for today on the small table by the door. Hinata was still sleeping most likely, so he tried to be as quiet as possible as he took off his jacket and shoes and dried off Hope. She whined as he rubbed her with the towel, and ran away as soon as he let go of her. Komaeda looked as she disappeared into the living room, before straightening his back.

Komaeda didn't get far from leaving the hallway when he heard footsteps approaching.

"Morning!" he said cheerily to Hinata who walked from around the corner, and the other yawned before responding to him.

"Morning… I'll start making breakfast soon," Hinata said. He walked over to Komaeda and wrapped him in a hug, surprising Komaeda for a second. "Merry Christmas," he said and hesitantly Komaeda hugged him back. Hinata was really warm in comparison to the cold air he had just came out of.

"Merry Christmas…," he answered. He didn't manage to stop himself from adding "You're so warm" after that, as he felt the relaxed in the warmth. Hinata chuckled as he squeezed him closer, before letting go.

"In that case, there's one thing I want to do before we eat," Hinata said as he pointed towards the living room. They walked into there and Komaeda saw two gifts on the kotatsu table, both with his name on them. There were two gifts for him, this was a bad. He only had one…

Hinata took one of the gifts first and gave it to Komaeda.

"Here you go; this is the regular gift I give to all my friends and family," Hinata said and looked at him expectantly. It was a soft package, revealing it was some kind of clothing. Komaeda glanced at Hinata like he was seeking confirmation to rip it open, before carefully starting to take the tapes off to keep it as intact as possible. Hinata seemed restless waiting, but he didn't say anything.

Komaeda took out the white sweater from the wrappings: it seemed warm and comfy and it had big, black buttons. He glanced at Hinata who grinned.

"You always complain how cold it is, so I went to find the warmest looking sweater for you," he said cheerily and Komaeda nodded with a small smile on his lips. Prompted by Hinata, he put on the sweater to find out it was incredibly warm; exactly like it looked. For a moment Komaeda relaxed wearing the clothing, but then Hinata picked up his second gift from the table. Why were there two? This wasn't fair, last year Hinata had given him one… He hadn't prepared for this.

"And here's a gift as… well, you know. As a… lover. Or family, something," Hinata explained awkwardly, holding the boxy gift carefully in his hands despite his rough words and giving it over carefully. Komaeda took it as carefully as Hinata had handled it, and decided to actually sit down by the table to open it just in case. Hope came to snoop on the package, and Hinata began to pet her to distract her from it.

When he finally got the wrapping undone and opened the box, he lifted two mugs with their names respectively written on them and a bowl with Hope's name on it.

"I thought it was about time to buy ones…," Hinata said a bit hesitantly, seemingly nervous. "And since we're a family now, I thought we should get them. I was a bit hesitant on giving them as a present but…"

"I—" Komaeda started, before stopping for a moment. He now did remember having their own, named cups with his parents back in his childhood, even though he hadn't thought about them in years. They had probably been sold with most of the other stuff he had cleared out from the house when Hinata moved in. At least, he didn't remember putting it in the few cardboard boxes he had put in the attic.

"Thank you, Hinata-kun. I love them," he said quietly, taking Hinata's cup and trailing his finger over the name " _Hajime._ " They both had only their first names on them. For a moment, he imagined the three of them years from now, still drinking from these same mugs and bowl, without anything having changed. Except Hope had probably grown up even more.

He set the mug down as he turned to look at Hinata; it was probably time for him to give his present. He lowered his eyes a little.

"I only have one present for you…," he said and Hinata just shook his head quickly.

"Yeah, I don't mind. I just felt like giving you two, I didn't expect the same in return," Hinata said cheerily as he looked around. Komaeda stood up and motioned for Hinata to follow him; the present he had wasn't really something he could bring into the house. Hinata seemed confused, but he followed Komaeda to the hallway, as did Hope, wagging her tail in curiosity. "Is it something heavy?" he asked curiously and Komaeda tilted his head.

"I mean, I guess yeah," he said as he walked to the small table by the door, picking up a nameless envelope from among them. Hinata frowned as he tried to look closer, and Komaeda just handed it to him.

"This isn't really heavy…?" Hinata said slowly as he began to open it, using his other hand to feel around the small object in it. Komaeda just smiled awkwardly, waiting as Hinata dropped the key out of the envelope to his hand.

When his confusion didn't seem to ease, Komaeda put his shoes on and the other followed his example. Hinata's face was starting to look like he had a sneaking suspicion, but he still followed Komaeda outside. They left Hope inside though, gaining a disappointed whine from her.

"Here it is…," Komaeda said as he pointed at the silver colored car parked on their yard: they always had had a space for one in there, but it had been mostly unused until now and covered with snow. Hinata's jaw dropped as he began to process the fact that there was indeed a completely brand new car in front of their house. "It's one of the newest models out there, so I hope it's good enough," Komaeda said. It was also had all the newest safety mechanisms, making it the number one safest car out there, but he decided not to mention that.

"You bought _a whole car_ ," Hinata said as he hesitantly walked towards it, reaching his hand out to touch it like he was making sure it was real. "A whole, actual car."

"Yeah…"

"How did you sneak it here? You were home the whole day yesterday…," Hinata asked as he used the key on the door on the driver's side, opening the door.

"I had it delivered here during the night, and they left the key in the mailbox…," Komaeda explained as Hinata sat in the car, seemingly enchanted as he began to check out the car. "Is it, is it good?"

"I mean, of course it is probably," Hinata said, missing kind of the point of Komaeda's question. "It seems like it'll be easy to drive as well. Why did you buy me a car though? It's really expensive – though, I guess that's not a problem, but it's so huge. And you even said sorry for not getting me two," Hinata said sarcastically.

"I thought you'd get to work and back faster this way than by the train. You can also use it to visit your parents more often now, and it'll be easier to deliver the presents too…," Komaeda said as he walked over to the car as well, resting his arm on the roof of it as he leaned down to see the inside as well. "Is that—is that alright?" Hinata just smiled softly as he nodded.

"Yeah, it's alright. I guess it's good to get a car before our driving skills get rusty," Hinata said and Komaeda smiled. He explained a bit about the car; he had chosen this car for other reasons than only the safety, like how it had been modeled to travel with a dog while giving enough space for it. Hinata listened patiently, until eventually he mentioned they should go back inside to eat.

"Oh, I guess the car also means I get a little bit more time at home with you two," Hinata said as they walked into the house, Hope waiting for them right by the door. Komaeda flashed an awkward, abashed smile as he closed the door behind him.

"I uh, that might have been one of the reasons too…," he confessed, trying to sound as nonchalant about it as possible, but he could see Hinata give him a smirk before grabbing his hand and pulling him into a small kiss.

"You dork, thank you. How about we eat now and then go out for a drive?" Hinata suggested and Komaeda nodded, before saying he'd fetch the new cups from the living room. He didn't really think his gift was anything compared to the ones he had gotten, it wasn't even nearly worth as much as the happiness his new family gave him.

But at least from now on they could make more new, happy memories with it.

* * *

 _Merry Christmas to everyone! Thank you for reading all these Christmas specials; from now on it'll be regular updates on a slower pace than they've been out now haha~ I wanted to make this longer and more grand but, I haven't exactly had much time to write over these past few days and on top of that I fell sick too so wasn't feeling too hot. I hope you still liked it! The next one will be for Hinata's birthday on the 1st of January, so I hope to see you there!_


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